Language enables conventions rather than being constituted by them.
Evidence
Davidson has in recent years tended to highlight the way in which this theory of interpretation undermines any attempt to distinguish between the form and content of language, arguing, for example, that ‘language is a condition for having conventions’ rather constituted by them. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 420
Categorization
- QUESTION: This is a counterintuitive reversal — language precedes convention — worth chasing for how it undermines postmodernist/‘conventionalist’ theories of language as wholly arbitrary.
- XREF: connects to: Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them; In some societies meanings arise from contextual relations rather than symbolic codes. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 205; Philosophical language must interweave expression and communication, neither reducible to the other — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1014 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Language enables meanings rather than passively carrying them
#expands(0.90) - Communication enforces preferred meanings through performative rules, not fixed codes
#complicates(0.80) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 802 - Philosophical language must interweave expression and communication, neither reducible to the other
#qualifies(0.78) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1014 - In some societies meanings arise from contextual relations rather than symbolic codes.
#exemplifies(0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 205 - Speaking requires taking a contingent position within language.
#corroborates(0.75) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 221